I had a good night’s sleep last night. The slow rocking motion didn’t bother me and probably helped. All I could wish for is a fan for more air movement. But that’s me.
After waking late I did two laps of the Promenade Deck. They signpost it as three laps being 1 mile, so each lap must be about 500m. I did another lap in the afternoon, so that’s more than I’m doing at home. Wow, exercise is the big thing with all our passengers. We are all of the same age group, 60 and upwards. All those geriatrics are striding out along the deck, almost as a race. Everyone passes me. My stride is quite short and I simply can’t walk any faster. I was stopping frequently and one Perth guy seemed to take a shine to me, touching me repeatedly on the shoulder. He was an old guy, nothing sinister in it, but gee, he was a tactile kind of bloke. I met his wife after a while and she said she brought five four litre casks of wine on board! He doesn’t drink, so it’s all for her. Wow, she’s a drinker.
I had a big breakfast at 0930, took the air for a while, then crashed from 1045am until 1pm. It was a good sleep.
Then I found the library, hoping to do some internet. Hah! Double hah! They charge 50p per minute. That’s GBP30 per hour or A$55.55. They must be joking, but they’re not. Granted, it’s a satellite connection, but there’s no way I’d pay that, so no internet for me. Perhaps it’s for the best. I wrote this diary each day in the cabin, so this is why it’s slamming in in a massive post now – 4,900 words and about 30 pictures. Why do I do it? Well, someone might be interested, I think the pictures are pretty good and it’s my web diary too. I make a book out of this blog, updated every few months. Someone in the 30th century might read it!
I had lunch at 3pm – you can eat at any time, it’s only a buffet. All I wanted was some fruit salad, but they provided mini seafood rolls and prawn sandwiches which I found too hard to resist.
Lazing on the Lido deck afterwards I was falling asleep and jerking awake as the ship rolled, but I realised this deck has a bar beside the pool, so from 6pm I had a few beers. And a double G&T. A pint of Stella is GPB3.70 which is AUD6.85. That’s a little cheaper than I pay at home, so it’s not too bad. The double G&T was GPB6.50, A$12.00!
The stern wake. I found this very relaxing.
I shot a couple of minutes of hi-def video which I'll make into a loop.
Earlier in the day I read the daily ship’s activities sheet and it said the ship was to berth at Padang Bai, not Benoa. Oh no! Padang Bai is out on the SE coast about 30Km from Sanur. I don’t want to be out there and have to catch long distance transport to where I want to be. However, I got talking to a Sydney couple at the bar who told me the info sheet is old and we do berth at Benoa after all. I’ll check tomorrow.
I had dinner in the Belvedere Buffet and it was not good. I chose the Indian food side. When the tandoori chicken looks and cuts like a Staedtler white pencil rubber, and the taste of the tandoori fish is indistinguishable from the chicken, both being tough and rubbery,things are not good. To disguise the taste, I had a 250ml galss of NZ Sauvignon Blanc costing GBP6.50 = AUD12.03. That is a bit much.
The reason I’m choosing these expensive drinks is that the travel agency told me they’d given me $200 on-board credit to make up for the booking shambles. I checked again at Reception and this time they did recognise my credit, so I could afford to spend up, as it was free money.
The cabin steward finally got me some ice to keep my insulin cold. Brian and Maureen (these Aussie names!) said their fridge works fine –it’s very cold and almost freezes. They’re on the same deck, so I must have a faulty fridge. There’s my luck again.
Boy, this is a geriatric cruise. I knew it would be, but I’ve been keeping an eye out for single widows or divorcees looking for a bit of company. I haven’t seen anyone! Ugly old women attached to equally ugly old men. And all boring as batshit.
Not many pictures today – there’s nothing to shoot.
Bull's Roar 